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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712832">A Friend in Need</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elendiliel/pseuds/Elendiliel'>Elendiliel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lightning Strikes [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fix-It, Gen, Planet Coruscant (Star Wars), Planet Kamino (Star Wars)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:14:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elendiliel/pseuds/Elendiliel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lightning Squadron's unofficial mission statement may be "everybody lives", but it's just been brought home to them that in wartime this is rarely the case. Or has it? Where the Force is concerned, nothing can be taken for granted.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lightning Strikes [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This has no connection to the episode of the same name; I'd forgotten that the latter existed until I was doing some research for another story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“That’s the last time I lend you one of my men.” General Helli Abbasa tried to keep her tone light, but not too light. Only her Jedi training was hiding the fact that her heart was breaking. Lightning Squadron had officially been cut in half. First Eagle, shot down by a destroyer on their very first mission. Then Echo, lost while escaping the Citadel, on loan to General Kenobi and General Skywalker. And now this.</p><p>Fives, brilliant, brave, compassionate, reckless Fives, was dead. Not an honourable death in combat – she could have coped with that. Mourned, in secret, as much as the Code allowed, but coped. After a close friend of his had had some sort of breakdown in the field, Fives had accompanied him to their home planet of Kamino. What had happened there, nobody really knew, but it had ended with Fives apparently attacking the Chancellor, being hunted down and finally being shot like some wild canid. He’d deserved so much better.</p><p>“Helli, I am truly sorry.” General Skywalker had broken the news in person. He and Captain Rex (now standing behind him), the only people on Coruscant Fives had trusted, had watched him die, unable to do anything. She knew how much that had to hurt. Even so, she <em>detested</em> the misuse of that word.</p><p>“Don’t apologise. You didn’t pull the trigger, and I’m sure the man who did thought he had a good reason. Everyone always does.” She lapsed into silence.</p><p>“I do feel responsible. Fives trusted us, and we let him down. <em>I</em> let him down. If I’d handled it differently…”</p><p>“Oh, don’t go down <em>that</em> route, whatever you do, or we’ll both what-if ourselves into an early grave. If we hadn’t been on assignment, Fives might have come to us instead, and I might have protected him – or we might be having this conversation in reverse. It’s done, and now we all have to live with the consequences. Speaking of which, <em>please</em> tell me something’s been learned from this whole mess at an official level.”</p><p>“The parasite that caused Tup’s and Fives’ breakdowns has been identified, and all the clones will be inoculated against it.” Rex had joined the conversation.</p><p>“That’s not what I meant. Can the Coruscant Guard even <em>spell</em> de-escalation yet?”</p><p>“Sadly, I don’t believe so. Their job includes protecting the Chancellor at all costs, and not everyone shares your… egalitarian view of the value of life.” Rex was being diplomatic. Helli was well aware that her rigid beliefs were widely regarded as hopelessly idealistic, especially in wartime.</p><p>“That’s a pity. I’d hoped Fives’ death might have actually <em>changed</em> something for the better. Oh well. The Force works in mysterious ways.” She fell silent again.</p><p>Rex broke the silence. “I understand your other men are waiting outside. Do you want me to tell them?”</p><p>“No, I’ll do it. Or try, at least. But – would you two mind staying here? Just in case.” They didn’t mind. Helli called Torrent and Spark in and braced herself. As she told them what had happened, as best she understood it, she knew she was confirming and filling in the details of something they had already guessed. Her features were Jedi-neutral (she mentally thanked her late master for giving her the tools to deal with this situation), but the three of them had worked too closely together for too long for her men not to see how she was really feeling. Torrent especially.</p><p>At last, the ordeal was over. Torrent and Spark still stood to attention, faces as blank as hers, waiting for the others to leave so that they could discuss the matter in private. Skywalker and Rex <em>had</em> to know that, but there were such things as protocol, good form and convention. Even Skywalker observed <em>some</em> of the niceties. “I’m afraid we have to go. If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.”</p><p>“Thank you. I think all we need right now is some time alone together.” Skywalker and Rex <em>definitely</em> knew how it was. They left with the bare minimum of formalities, leaving the surviving members of Lightning Squadron in peace. Torrent and Spark sat down either side of Helli, all three now openly displaying the pain, shock and anger they felt. Helli knew Torrent wanted to put his arms around her, and part of her wished he would, but they both knew why that was a bad idea.</p><p>“I just can’t believe it.” Torrent shook his head. “Of all of us, I’d have thought <em>Fives</em> would make it through. And I’d <em>never</em> have believed he’d do something that <em>stupid</em>. He was reckless, yes, but smart.”</p><p>“And nobody’s been held accountable.” Spark already sounded tired and empty, but there was fury underneath. “Nobody’s <em>learned</em> anything, except for some nonsense about parasites. It didn’t have to <em>be </em>like that. I’ve seen you two handle that kind of situation without anyone getting hurt. Why can’t more people try to do that?”</p><p>“I’ve been asking myself that for years.” Helli had gone past grief into the hollowness beyond it. “Non-violence does work, whatever loons like Death Watch say. And “kill or be killed” makes a lot less sense when stun-bolts are an option. But we can’t change the past. Just live with it, and try to learn from it. Fives won’t really be gone as long as we remember him. And if we can ensure that <em>something</em> good comes out of his death, so much the better.”</p><p>“I just wish we could do something <em>now</em>.” Helli understood Spark’s sentiments, and shared them.</p><p>“What’s going to happen to us?” Torrent’s query was very valid. “Are they going to let us carry on as we are, or split us up? Or send us some more people?”</p><p>“I don’t know. I imagine we’re <em>way</em> down the priority list right now. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens – all round.” She checked her chrono. “Apparently it’s supper-time. Mess hall, order in, or just go to bed? I don’t know about you two, but I’m not remotely hungry.”</p><p>Nor were the others. Torrent and Spark headed for their barracks to try to get some rest after a stressful mission and painful aftermath, and Helli made her way to her room in the Temple on the same errand. But while she eventually managed to fall asleep, rest eluded her. For good reason.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Seen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Every Jedi, from youngling to master, knew about dreams. Sometimes they were the normal subconscious images; sometimes they were messages from the Force. Helli never remembered the former type, and had never had any of the latter. Until now.</p><p>She was in a starkly furnished room, round, white-walled and harshly lit. The only external window was a battleground between torrential rain and ocean waves. Medical facility, at a guess. One other occupant, strapped to an examination table, tossing and turning in sleep even more troubled than hers. A clone. At first, she didn’t recognise him. His head was uniformly shaved, and he was moving too fast for her to see any identifying marks. Then a brief pause brought his right temple into view for just long enough, and her astral heart jumped into her metaphysical mouth. She knew that tattoo. It was the last one she’d expected to see again.</p><p>She wanted to draw closer to him, but that wasn’t how this worked. She was an observer, nothing else. Very well, then. She’d observe. For someone who’d been shot in the heart region, Fives wasn’t looking too bad – physically. Apart, of course, from the half-fused cybernetic implant in his bare chest. But she could read pain, fear and desperation in his Force-presence, and he was talking in his sleep – something about <em>the mission</em>, <em>free</em>, <em>it’s in all of us</em>, and then, over and over, something that was either a call for aid or her name. Or both. <em>Hel… help… Hel… help…</em></p><p>Helli couldn’t stand it any longer. She <em>had</em> to reach out and at least let him know she was there. But the moment she tried, the spell broke and she found her entire self back in her bed. And nearly fell out of it, she’d been thrashing around so much.</p><p>She sat up, waited for normal vision to reassert itself and persuaded her racing heart to slow down. First things first. Was what she had just seen real? Or was it wishful thinking? Or (she shuddered at the thought) was it a false vision, some Sith trickery? The last was unlikely, though not impossible. Lightning Squadron was a pain in the Seps’ collective neck, but she didn’t think she rated Count Dooku’s personal attention just yet, let alone his master’s. Surely her teammate’s death could be considered sufficiently unbalancing by itself. She couldn’t rule out any option on her own, however. She needed expert help. And she knew just the Jedi to ask.</p><p>According to her chrono, it was early enough in the night still to be late evening by many people’s standards. Including, she happened to know, Master Kit Fisto. She dressed quickly, pulling her unruly curls into something meant to be a warrior’s tail, and headed for his quarters with all due speed.</p><p>As she had hoped, Master Fisto was awake and pleased to see her. Helli had been close to his late former padawan, Nahdar Vebb, and Fisto had taken an almost fatherly interest in his apprentice’s friend immediately after the death of her own master. The war had separated them all for a while, but since Helli’s encounter with General Grievous, Nahdar’s killer (among so many other things), their friendship had been rekindled. Even so, it was a testament to his emotional control that he didn’t bat an eyelid, so to speak, when she turned up outside his door, wild-eyed and wilder-haired.</p><p>“Koh-to-ya, young Jedi. Come on in.”</p><p>“Koh-to-ya, Master. Sorry for barging in like this.”</p><p>“It’s no trouble. I was half-expecting you to contact me. I heard about your friend, and I’m s-,” he caught her expression and corrected himself, “you have my sympathy. This war has taken too many people from us, too soon.”</p><p>“You can say that again. But I didn’t just come here for that, welcome though it is. I need your help.”</p><p>“I thought as much. What’s the problem?”</p><p>“I had a dream. A strange one. I can’t tell whether it’s a vision or just my imagination, and if it is a vision, whether or not it’s true. Or whether it’s of the past, present or future.”</p><p>This was why she’d taken this to Master Fisto, and not, say, Skywalker. He knew her, and wouldn’t tease or make light of her concerns. “What was it like, this dream?”</p><p>Helli described it as best she could. While diplomacy was part of her stock-in-trade, talking about feelings and intuition was a struggle for her. But she thought she got the main points across quite clearly. Fisto’s expression barely changed as she identified the man in her vision as Fives. When she’d finished, he said, “I can see why you want my help. But first, tell me, do <em>you</em> feel that what you saw was the truth? Not <em>think</em> – <em>feel</em>.”</p><p>“I <em>feel</em> that it was true. Fives is alive, and he needs my help. Trouble is, I still can’t always distinguish between Force-messages and wishful thinking, especially when I’m this unbalanced. I could really do with a second opinion.”</p><p>“I’ll see what I can do. Hold out your hands.” She did so, and his hands folded around hers. “Now close your eyes.” Again, she complied, and suppressed a flicker of irritation as he talked her through a simple meditation exercise as though she were some half-trained youngling. His answering flash of amusement tinged with apology made her smile, ever so slightly. The exercise worked, though. The vision returned to her senses, in more detail than she’d expected. It faded at the same point as before and she reopened her eyes to see Master Fisto looking at her, his expression both grave and reassuring.</p><p>“As far as I can tell, your vision was true, and of either the present or the near future. Your friend is alive, and imprisoned. I suppose you’ll go after him.” It wasn’t a question.</p><p>“If I possibly can. Fives is a major asset to his legion, and probably to the whole army. Umbara wouldn’t have fallen without him, for a start.” That was how she’d spin it to the Council, anyhow. She’d been ready to let Fives go, to allow him to fade into memory as the Code and necessity dictated, but now…</p><p>“I should try to talk you out of this, but I know I’d be wasting my time. I imagine you’ve considered the possibility that the man you saw is no longer Fives as you knew him?”</p><p>“Yes, and rejected it. You sensed what I sensed. Trust me – there’s no mistaking that presence. Whatever those chips really are, removing his didn’t affect the core of his personality.”</p><p>“<em>I</em> trust you. The Council as a whole may not, and the Senate certainly won’t. Officially, you’ll be on your own, though I’ll help as much as I can.”</p><p>“I understand. Thank you. I know there’ll be no holding Torrent and Spark once I tell them this – unless we get reassigned.”</p><p>“I suggest you move swiftly, then. Any idea where to start looking?”</p><p>Helli closed her eyes, focusing on details of the vision. “An ocean world – rainy. State-of-the-art medical equipment. High door.” She hadn’t even realised she’d noticed that. “Kamino, perhaps?”</p><p>“I agree. That’s where his body is likely to have been sent, and where they understand his biology better than anyone. I can arrange for you and your squadron to visit the cloning facility, looking for a new member or two for your unique team. And if that new member happens also to be an old one…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. She did, just for the sake of it.</p><p>“So much the better. How soon can you make the arrangements?”</p><p>“If I start now, you can leave first thing in the morning. Alert your men and get some rest, in whatever order seems good to you.”</p><p>“I don’t think I can sleep until I’ve told the others. I’ll go and do that now. Thank you so much for all of this.”</p><p>“You’re welcome, young Jedi. Now, off you go. I’ll contact you as soon as everything’s in place.” She bowed and left, returning to her own room and wasting no time in calling Spark and Torrent. They shared her outrage at what had been done to their brother, and were as keen to get him out and perhaps get even with whatever son of a Hutt was responsible. Helli couldn’t countenance revenge, but justice would certainly be swift if she had any say in the matter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Sought</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Master Fisto had outdone himself. Long before dawn, he called Helli to say that a transport shuttle was ready for her and her unit, together with all the permits and requisition forms they needed. The plan was simple, deniable and – if push came to shove – legal. Helli couldn’t stand the idea of treating sapient beings as property, and was even uneasy about giving droids orders, but if it got Fives out… Not that ends ever truly justified means.</p><p>Helli flew the transport herself, with Torrent beside her. No need to get anyone else involved, even their astromechs. She wasn’t used to anything bigger than her fighter these days, but managed the journey through hyperspace and descent to the planet’s surface reasonably well, she hoped. The final approach over the ocean was the hardest bit, and she needed all her concentration – which was in short supply with the constant rain drumming on the viewport.</p><p>“Is it <em>always </em>this wet?”, she asked the others. “Might as well be back on Alba.”</p><p>“Pretty much,” was Spark’s reply. “Remind you of home?”</p><p>“Alba hasn’t been my home since I became a Jedi youngling. Coruscant is.”</p><p>“Do you miss it?” Torrent, always so incisive.</p><p>“Some things. My blood-family, as much as I allow myself. The landscape. The food, even.” She glared out at the downpour. “Not the weather.”</p><p>That put a damper on the conversation (pun neither intended nor regretted). Besides, they had to dock, and that was at least a two-person task. Job done, they stepped out of the transport and were greeted by a disdainful-looking (although it was hard to tell with her species) female Kaminoan and an elegant, rather friendlier Togruta woman. Only a fellow Jedi could have read the sorrow and slowly fading shock behind her smile.</p><p>“Koh-to-ya, General Abbasa. It’s a pleasure to meet you. May I introduce Doctor Nala Se?” Helli fought back a wave of fury as she recognised the name.</p><p>“Koh-to-ya, General Ti, Doctor Se. The pleasure and honour are all mine. These are the other members of Lightning Squadron, Sergeant Torrent and Spark.” The clones saluted General Shaak Ti, who had overseen their training when they were cadets, and who now acknowledged their salutes politely. No Jedi trained before the war was comfortable with this kind of command. They did not salute Nala Se, but bowed ever so slightly in response to her glare. Like Helli, they knew that this woman had been somehow involved in Fives’ “death”.</p><p>“Would you like a tour of the facility before we discuss the reason for your visit?” General Ti’s tone was warm and friendly. Not so Nala Se’s. “Your clones can tag along, if it won’t be too boring for them.”</p><p>“That was my meaning, of course.” Interesting. Definite friction that even a Jedi Master couldn’t hide. Could be useful. Lightning Squadron accepted the invitation – individually, Spark, then Torrent, then Helli, agreeing without discussion that Nala Se needed a taste of how things worked in their unit – and trailed after their guides, keeping their eyes and ears open and all other senses sharp. The dynamic between the General and the doctor was <em>definitely</em> worth bearing in mind. Helli would bet any credits she ever happened to possess that they’d been battling for dominance for some time, and that it had come to a head over Tup and Fives. Now only professionalism and necessity were keeping them from each other’s throats. General Ti would be a valuable ally if things got rough. Helli knew she’d fought Fives’ corner before, and suspected she’d willingly do so again.</p><p>With a shock, she realised that that was soldier thinking. Worse, it was behind-enemy-lines thinking, on a Republic-aligned planet. Barriss had had a point, although Helli couldn’t condone her methods. The Jedi were getting too involved in this war, and it was stealing their ideals.</p><p>Preoccupied with her thoughts, her conscious brain took a while to register that the tour was over. She probed her subconscious, and found plenty of relevant data it had recorded while the rest of her mind was elsewhere. There’d be time to study it and pool it with the others’ observations later. Now, she had to make their cover story convincing.</p><p>“These are the records of every clone from the latest batch. Those who completed their training, that is. You can filter by-”</p><p>“Yes, I see.” It was a childishly simple interface. Helli, aware that she was showing off, levitated a nearby stylus and used it to manipulate the display on the datapad Nala Se held. It helped to think of this as playing a part – the brash, self-confident (verging on overconfident) leader Nala Se might expect the head of an elite strike team to be. It was embarrassingly close to the truth. Helli saw, out of the corner of her eye, that Shaak Ti had seen through the deception and was hiding a smile.</p><p>“With these, you should be able to select candidates to replace your malfunctioning subordinate.” Well, she’d caught the mind of one, and deceived that of the other. Now to go for the heart.</p><p>“Nobody can <em>replace</em> Fives. Like every living being, he was unique. I’ll have to settle for a successor.” Helli took the datapad and continued searching until she had what would, had she really been looking for a new team member, have been a manageable number of possibilities. Her words had had the desired effect. Nala Se was put out at being contradicted, and having her worldview challenged by yet another Jedi, but also delighted by the reminder of the army’s dependence on her people’s skills. General Ti was firmly on her side now, she was sure. The glimpse of Helli’s still-aching heart had been just right. And the Kaminoan must be <em>really</em> aggravating for a Jedi Master to be quite so pleased at her rival being put down. She detested thinking like this, but it was necessary. <em>For you, brother.</em></p><p>“These ones might do. No need to interrupt their routine more than necessary; we can find them ourselves.” Well, they could, but weren’t intending to do so. She was about to try to shake their escort (or at least the long-necked half who’d be looking down her nose at them if she had enough of one) when they were unexpectedly interrupted.</p><p>“Excuse me, did you say Five-s?” Helli turned to see a small free-floating droid with an inquisitive expression. “Yes, I did. And you are?”</p><p>“AZI-3, medical droid. I was able to be of some assistance to Advanced Reconnaissance Clone Five-s during his recent visit. I was – sorry – to hear that he had ceased to function.”</p><p>“Pleased to meet you, AZI-3. I’m General Helli Abbasa, Five-s – Fives’ – commander. Any friend of his is a friend of mine. And, in future, please don’t apologise for things that weren’t your fault. Certainly not in my hearing.”</p><p>“I thought I ordered you reprogrammed!” It was the first real anger Helli had seen from Nala Se. Her hand went instinctively to her sabre, and she knew Torrent and Spark were also ready to fight. Only Shaak Ti kept calm.</p><p>“The paperwork must be delayed somewhere.” She flicked a quarter-smile in Helli’s direction, out of Nala Se’s eyeline, confirming the younger woman’s suspicion that the Jedi Master had had something to do with that. “I’m sure it can be sorted out. In the meantime, AZI-3, why don’t you show General Abbasa and her men everything they want to see? Then Doctor Se and I can return to our duties.”</p><p>“Certainly, General Ti. General Abbasa, what do you require?”</p><p>Helli held out the datapad. “I need at least one more person for my team. Based on test results, these seem to be the best candidates, but I’d need to interview them before making any selection.”</p><p>“But surely, General Abbasa, their test results tell you everything you need to know?”</p><p>“No, AZI-3, they don’t. Organic beings are far too complex for any test, or even series of tests, we have to describe absolutely everything about them. That’s where our intuition comes in. I can see from these results which clones are fastest, strongest, most intelligent by multiple measures – but there’s no reliable test for compatibility between teammates, other than talking to them and watching them interact. And if it’s all the same to you, I prefer to be called Helli.”</p><p>“Hel-li?” The little droid was thoroughly bemused by the change of subject.</p><p>“Yes. It’s my first name. A lot of organics have two or more names, for different occasions. My superiors and people I don’t know very well use my second name; my friends use my first name.”</p><p>“Ah. I think I see. In the same way that ARC-5555 was also Five-s, you are both General Abbasa and Hel-li.”</p><p>“If you want to put it like that. What do you prefer to be called?”</p><p>“I am a droid. I do not “prefer” anything. However, Five-s called me AZI. If, as you say, he was my friend, and now you are my friend, it would perhaps be fitting if you were to do the same.”</p><p>“Fine by me. This is Torrent, my sergeant, and this is Spark.” The two men greeted AZI with friendly courtesy. Helli double-checked that Shaak Ti and Nala Se were nowhere to be seen, and Spark confirmed by hand signal that he’d scoped for recorders and found nothing. “And now that we’re in private, I think we can dispense with the cover story, and the past tense. We believe Fives is still alive, and it’s quite possible that he’s being held somewhere in this facility. Can you help us find him?”</p><p>“I will do my very best to assist you. But why do you think Five-s is still functioning? I heard he had suffered catastrophic damage to his fuel distributor.”</p><p>“He was shot in the heart, yes. But I had a vision of him last night, very ill but alive. As far as I or a Jedi Master I asked could tell, it was real. Not a dream.” She described the room she’d seen in as much detail as possible.</p><p>“There is nothing in my memory banks matching such a room. I shall attempt to extrapolate from the data you have given me. The design would not be inconsistent with this facility, but it is impossible to be certain one way or the other.”</p><p>“Hold on.” Torrent had been thinking. “Run the shape of the walls past me again, would you?”</p><p>“Curved most of the way round, becoming flat on one side. The door was set into the flat side. It matched the design of most of the doors here, but they’re made of the same material as the walls. The door in my vision was metal.”</p><p>“Could it have been a lift door?” Spark was thinking along the same lines.</p><p>“You know, it could. I was thinking it might be a tower room, but that doesn’t square with the view of the ocean. AZI, how wide are the supports of this building?”</p><p>“Six metres in diameter, Hel-li. Why do you ask?”</p><p>“Just right. A room inside one of the supports. High up, so as not to compromise the support’s integrity, or need pressure adjustment. That explains the view. Just above sea level. A one-floor lift to get in – no Kaminoan wants to do anything as undignified as scramble down a ladder. Does all that sound reasonable?” The others thought so. The only question was <em>which</em> support. There were six of the perishers.</p><p>“Two each. Or Hel and I take two each and Spark and AZI do the others. We’ll cover more ground if we split up.” Torrent’s plan made sense on the surface, but Helli’s instincts said otherwise.</p><p>“No. We need to stick together. AZI, can you show me a plan of the facility?” He obliged. Helli shut her eyes and tuned out everything but the Force. When it was flowing through her as strongly as she had ever felt it, she let it move her right hand to somewhere in the hologram, then opened her eyes again. She had selected one of the supports. The one furthest from them, worse luck.</p><p>“Well, we have an objective. The only question is how we’re going to get there unseen. Suggestions?” She half-expected Fives to chime in with something unconventional but workable, as he usually did.</p><p>“Maintenance shafts? Ventilation?” Helli could see why Spark was thinking along those lines. They’d used those in the past, but they weren’t going to work this time.</p><p>“I saw them as we came in. Too narrow. AZI could get in, no problem, but even I’d have difficulty, let alone you two.”</p><p>“Distraction? AZI takes a fire-starter or a few grams of explosive to another part of the building, sets them off with a delay, then comes back here?” Torrent’s suggestion also had merit, and was worth exploring.</p><p>“Where would be the best target?”</p><p>“How about their genetic records? They’re <em>very </em>proud of them. Everyone would want to help put out the fire. We could just stroll through.”</p><p>“Too risky still. There are plenty of clones around, and other clients less attached to the records. No, this needs to work first time.”</p><p>“Might I make a suggestion, Hel-li?”</p><p>“Yes, AZI, you may. You’re part of the team.”</p><p>“You do not need any more subterfuge than you have already employed. I was instructed to show you anything you wanted to see. You want to see this support, and you have permission to go anywhere in the building. I can take you straight there.”</p><p>“Brilliant!” Helli’s grin nearly connected her pointy ears. “We’ve been treating this like a normal operation, but this is meant to be friendly territory. We already have all the clearance we need.”</p><p>It worked perfectly. There was only one sticky moment, when they almost ran into Nala Se, but as luck (or the Force) would have it, a medical droid came up to ask her a question, and she was too distracted to notice and interrogate Lightning Squadron. Out of curiosity, Helli reached out to Shaak Ti, and sensed a faint hum of satisfaction from the Jedi Master. Helli had her work cut out keeping the smile off her face.</p><p>The support cap was housed, as Helli had half-expected of a functional thing in such an elegant establishment, in a concrete-floored, breezeblock-walled room with a very discreet entrance. Only AZI’s sensors found it. Thirty seconds’ work with Spark’s code cylinder, which had got them through many locked doors, and they were in. The cap itself was white-painted steel, cylindrical, six metres across, three metres high and with no visible entrance. Even AZI was foxed.</p><p>“Are you sure this is the right one?”</p><p>“Trust me, Torrent. Has the Force let us down yet?” Helli shut her eyes again and asked the Force for help. No direct answer. Well, there was more than one way to skin a womp-rat. The viewport she’d seen in her vision had faced the sea, and been directly opposite the door. She remembered, now, a moment when it had cleared just enough for her to see a rock formation in the distance. “AZI, can you show me the area around this building?” He could. She recognised the formation straight away. “Are these all aligned with their real-world counterparts?”</p><p>“Yes, Hel-li. Why do you ask?”</p><p>“No time.” Fives was close. She <em>knew</em> it. <em>I’m coming, brother</em>. She crossed the space between her other brothers and her best guess at where the lift was in two strides, sabre already ignited, and sliced her way in. <em>Definitely</em> a lift. And <em>definitely</em> the right dimensions to be the counterpart to the room she’d seen. Not going anywhere with that hole in its side, but there were ways around that. “Well, are you coming?”</p><p>“Right behind you.” The chorus was more or less universal.</p><p>She cut through the floor, not bothering with a depth-check (she’d have yelled at anyone else for being so sloppy), and dropped down. Yes, only one storey. That could have been nasty if she’d been wrong. The lift door yielded easily to her sabre. And there, just as she’d seen him in her vision, was Fives.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This time Helli wasn’t a passive observer, but an active rescuer. She moved to Fives' side and took a moment to sense him through the Force, just to be sure. Lingering trauma in the upper levels of his soul, which would take a long time to heal, but at the core he was still the same man. She laid a gentle hand on his chest, extending her awareness to his body. He was running a slight temperature, and the implant wasn’t fully fused yet, but she thought he might be well enough to be moved. She’d have to check with AZI, though. He, Torrent and Spark had come up behind her, but when Fives’ eyes fluttered open, it was her they focused on first, and hers was the name on his lips.</p><p>“Hel.” He was still drowsy. “You came for me.” His eyes roamed over his brothers, and their new friend. “You all came for me.”</p><p>“Of course we did. Never leave a man behind. How do you feel?”</p><p>“So… tired. My chest hurts. And my head… full of fog. But other than that… fit for duty, sir.” It was a flash of the old Fives, enough to show up the difference. Helli snapped a question at AZI. “What did they do to him?”</p><p>AZI had completed a full bioscan. “Implanted a cybernetic heart, which has not yet completely joined with his natural body. Although the work appears expertly done, there is a minor systemic bacterial infection, which is being controlled by an intravenous infusion of antibiotics. I am also picking up traces of psychoactive compounds, including long-lasting mnemonic inhibitors.”</p><p>“They’ve messed with his <em>memory</em>? How much?” Helli was running through every calming exercise she knew. It was just about working.</p><p>“Impossible to say. Perhaps two rotations’ worth, maybe less. It is not a precise science.”</p><p>Helli addressed Fives directly. “How much do you remember?”</p><p>“Everything… up to leaving for Coruscant. Then… bits and pieces. She <em>drugged</em> me. Who can I trust? Not the Chancellor. Maybe none of the Senate. Not the Council. Hel and the others are away. General Skywalker. Captain Rex. They’ll help me. If they believe me. No-one believes me.”</p><p>“I’ll believe you. Just tell me what to believe.”</p><p>“I don’t know it all yet. Or if I do, they took it from me. But the chips – they’ve got to come out.”</p><p>Helli switched her attention back to AZI. “Do you know how to remove these chips?”</p><p>“Yes, Hel-li. But I do not know what the long term consequences are. You see what has happened to Five-s.”</p><p>“I was <em>fine</em> until I was <em>drugged</em>.” Helli didn’t ask who had drugged him. <em>Nala flipping Se.</em> She addressed herself to Torrent, watching the door, and Spark, who was investigating the room’s computer systems.</p><p>“What do you two think? We don’t know what these chips are – what they might make you do, or what might happen if they’re removed. It’s a risk, either way. I leave it entirely up to you.”</p><p>“If there’s a chance I’ll end up killing a Jedi, I want this chip <em>gone, now</em>.” Helli knew which Jedi Torrent had in mind, but didn’t dare say so.</p><p>“Same here. This place messed with our heads enough already. The only ones I want telling me what to do are you two.”</p><p>“If you’re both sure, we’d better get on with it. AZI, how long will it take?”</p><p>“A few minutes. But it requires space and equipment Five-s is currently using – and he is not fully functional yet.”</p><p>Helli ran through the calming exercises again. “How long until he is?”</p><p>“At least half a rotation, Hel-li.”</p><p>“Any way to speed that up?”</p><p>“I fear not. I am s- I regret that I cannot be of further use.”</p><p>“It’s fine. You’ve done your best.” Then something occurred to her. It was a wild, lunatic idea, but it was the best she had. “But I haven’t – yet.”</p><p>She laid her hand on Fives’ chest again and closed her eyes, narrowing her focus to a small section of his body, the cybernetic implant gradually – too gradually – becoming part of him, and, of course, the Force. She let it fill her, every cell, every organelle, until she felt she ought to be glowing like the luminous being Master Yoda often said every Jedi was. Then she released it, shaping it with her will, directing it to the void between flesh and metal. She could feel Fives’ body getting the message, accepting the foreign matter as his own. But he was too weak still to sustain the fusion process. Her strength would have to do.</p><p>“Stop!” Helli barely noticed Master Ti’s voice. She certainly didn’t obey. She couldn’t. Her brother’s life was at stake. So was the freedom of her other brothers. The flow of energy could not be dammed now. She had opened the sluice gates and locked them in place.</p><p>Through a fog, through the roar of the ocean, she heard Torrent say, “I don’t think she can, General. I don’t know what she’s doing, but knowing her, it’s saving his life.”</p><p>“At the cost of her own. Healing is one of the most dangerous uses of the Force. If she doesn’t have enough strength to complete her task, she will die.” Helli felt a touch on her hand. If it was her hand. Everything was so distant. “It’s already started.”</p><p>“Could she draw strength from someone else? Or could someone else give it to her?”</p><p>“It’s possible. But that person would have to have a strong emotional bond with her.”</p><p>“Then we’re in with a chance.” Helli heard the deep breath, pictured the squared shoulders as Torrent braced himself. “I’ve been in love with her since the day we met. I don’t know if she’s in love with me, but even if she is, she’ll always put the Code first, and I wouldn’t ask her to do anything else. And she’s my sister in arms. We’ve saved each other’s lives more often than I can count. Will that be enough?”</p><p>“It will have to be. Quickly now. Put your hands on her shoulders and close your eyes. Visualise your strength flowing into her, just as hers is flowing into him.” Helli felt the warm, grounding contact, then the trickle of energy that rapidly grew to a mighty river, replenishing her depleted reserves.</p><p>“Not that quickly! You’re as mad as she is…” Dimly, Helli registered that the hands on her shoulders were growing colder, and that the river of energy was narrowing again. Torrent had overdone it, too.</p><p>“Then that makes three of us.” Spark had joined the conversation. “Torrent and Fives are my brothers, and Hel’s my sister. That’ll have to do.” Before Master Ti could respond, Helli sensed a gentle current of warmth running through the icy stream that was the energy Torrent was giving her. It was enough. Her awareness of Fives’ body told her that the implant had taken, and he was fit and well again, bar lingering traces of infection. She opened reluctant eyes to see him smiling up at her. “Mind taking these straps off?”</p><p>“Not at all.” Helli’s fingers were clumsy with cold, but warming rapidly. The restraints and IV lines were removed in no time. Fives sat up, and she helped him stand – then had to be supported as she realised how much of a toll healing him had taken on her. Torrent tried to help, but he was in almost as bad a way, and Spark had to help <em>him</em>. Master Ti shook her head as she watched them. “You’re all mad. I hope whatever you were doing was worth it.” Then her gaze fell on the end of the still-swaying line, and her eyes widened. “Fives?”</p><p>“Reporting for duty, General. But if you’re going to ask how I survived, or anything about the last couple of rotations, I’m afraid I can’t help you.”</p><p>“I’d ask what the rest of you are doing here, if I didn’t suspect I wouldn’t like the answers. I knew you were up to something, although I wasn’t going to say anything in front of Nala Se. But I had a feeling you were going to need help, and then it was just a matter of looking for momentary security breaches. Your reputation rather preceded you.”</p><p>“Excuse me, but are any of you ready for surgery yet?” AZI was waiting by the examination table. Spark steered Torrent over to where he could hold on to the wall until he got his breath back, and headed towards the medical droid.</p><p>“Surgery? You’re having the chips removed? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”</p><p>“Not really.” Torrent was strong enough to speak, at least. “But we do know how dangerous leaving them in could be for Hel, or any other Jedi.”</p><p>“We’ve been through this already. I was fine until Nala Se drugged me. AZI found traces of psychoactive compounds in my system. That seems like a more rational explanation for my behaviour than having something removed that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”</p><p>“You may be right, Fives. But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re wanted for assaulting the Chancellor. Do you remember anything about that?”</p><p>“Not a thing, General. So- I wish I could. In time, some things might come back. But right now, it’s all just a blur.” Silence ruled for a few minutes, broken only by the low hum of surgical equipment.</p><p>“I’m ready for you now, Tor-rent,” AZI called over. Spark was already making his way back to them; Torrent, now fully recovered, took his place.</p><p>“So, how were you planning to get out of here, and explain Fives’ survival?” Master Ti had switched focus to Helli.</p><p>“Well, we didn’t know where Fives was going to be, so we’ll have to wing the extraction somewhat. And as for his survival – one clone looks very much like another, and the new haircut will help. A quiet word with a tattoo artist and some doctored files, and hopefully it should be fine.”</p><p>“Hopefully?” Master Ti didn’t sound convinced, and Helli couldn’t blame her.</p><p>“We only put this mission together late last night. That’s fast, even by our standards. We knew we couldn’t afford to waste time.”</p><p>“How very true.” Both Jedi reached for their sabres as Nala Se’s voice was followed into the room by the woman herself. “Which one of you is responsible for the holes in my building?”</p><p>“That would be me.” Helli moved forward slightly. “I’m afraid I can’t afford to pay for it.”</p><p>“Bill it to the Republic,” Fives suggested. “I’m sure they’d love to know what you were doing with their property.” Helli had to admit that, legally though not morally, he was right.</p><p>“Yes, I’d rather like to know that too,” chipped in Master Ti. “Fives was recorded killed on Coruscant. You gave no indication that this was no longer the case. You allowed his friends to grieve for a man who still lived. Why did you do such a thing?”</p><p>“An ARC trooper is extremely valuable. With his recent memories erased, but his training and skills left intact, he could be sold for a tidy sum – or used as the template for more clones.”</p><p>“So it was all about money.” Ti didn’t bother to hide her disgust.</p><p>“Oh, not <em>all</em> about money.” Helli would have given a fair bit to wipe the smug smile off Se’s face. She ran through the calming exercises again. “We found the parasite that caused the clones to malfunction.”</p><p>“If it <em>was</em> a parasite.” Ti sighed. “I <em>will </em>get to the truth some day. I can’t take this to the Council now without compromising General Abbasa and her unit. I doubt they went through official channels to get here. But one day, you <em>will</em> make a mistake you can’t explain away – and I’ll be waiting.”</p><p>“Such optimism.” Se’s smile now was even worse. “I can’t eliminate either of you without raising awkward questions. These others, though – who cares about a few clones and a droid?” She drew a pair of blasters from under her skirts and aimed one at Spark.</p><p>“We do.” Ti and Helli said it in unison as they ignited their sabres. Helli let Ti take the lead in deflecting bolts from Se’s blasters, working on autopilot while her awareness darted beneath the surface of the water around them. It didn’t take long for her to find what she was after.</p><p>“How are you doing, AZI?”</p><p>“I have removed the bulk of Tor-rent’s chip, Hel-li, but…”</p><p>“That’ll have to do. Patch him up and let’s get out of here.”</p><p>“With pleasure, Hel-li.” The medic set about preparing his patient for transport. The moment they were clear of the examination table, Helli sent it crashing through the viewport, creating a hole more or less big enough to jump through, above the waterline – just about. Until the tide came in.</p><p>“You want us to go out that way?” Spark wasn’t the galaxy’s best swimmer, Helli remembered.</p><p>“Do you have a better plan? Trust me, I’ve got this.”</p><p>“That’s what worries me. I do.” Helli pretended she hadn’t heard that.</p><p>“AZI, can any of your survival modes get you and Torrent out of here?”</p><p>“Yes, Five-s. I can –"</p><p>“Then do it!” The droid complied, dragging his semi-conscious patient out and away. Fives and Spark started to follow. Helli stopped them with a sharp, “Not yet! Not yet… Now!” She lifted them through the impromptu exit, one at a time, praying that her instincts were as true as ever. Then it was her and Ti’s turn to back towards the window, still deflecting blaster fire despite the fact that all Se’s targets had escaped. The Kaminoan was no longer rational. That was what happened when anger took hold. Helli had come perilously close to that multiple times over the previous rotation.</p><p>“I hope you really do know what you’re doing.”</p><p>“Believe me, Master, so do I. Now, go! I’ll cover you.” Helli was as good as her word, blocking two shots that should have hit the other woman as she leapt out of the shattered viewport with Jedi agility, before following with all speed. A laser grazed her left arm as she jumped, landing, as she had planned, on the back of a passing aiwha, just behind Master Ti. Fives and Spark rode another one ahead of them, preceded by Torrent, apparently water-skiing on AZI’s back, and just visible below the surface at the head of the procession was a very familiar green silhouette.</p><p>“Some people know how to make an entrance, but you certainly know how to make an exit.” Not a conventional compliment, but Helli would take it. “Where are we going now?”</p><p>“If Master Fisto is thinking what I think he’s thinking, back to our ship. We may have to swim the last bit. Do you want to come with us back to Coruscant? It might be safer.”</p><p>“Thank you, but no. I have duties here. I know you understand.” Helli did. It was duty, as well as friendship, that had led them there. “Once Nala Se calms down, she will realise that she cannot harm me without arousing suspicion. Even an apparent accident, after all this, will be cause for concern.” Was that a hint of mischief in the Jedi Master’s eye? “I am glad I was able to supply you with a new team member. Of course not even clones can be truly replaced, but I trust this one will be a worthy successor to your late friend.”</p><p>“I hope so, Master. Thank you.” They were approaching the landing platform. The non-Nautolan Jedi and clones disembarked from their aiwha and droid (Torrent, back to full strength once more, towed Spark towards AZI, who accepted the change of passenger without comment) and swam or floated the rest of the way to their ship. Master Fisto slipped inside without being seen from elsewhere in the facility (later, Helli learned that he’d docked his fighter underneath their transport, which made for a <em>very</em> interesting takeoff), and the others made their way to the platform itself for a formal farewell.</p><p>“I wish you all the best in your new assignment, trooper. General Abbasa may be unconventional, but she will go to any lengths to carry out her duty and protect her men. Lightning Squadron is an asset to the Republic, and I am sure you will be a credit to your unit.”</p><p>“Thank you, General.” Fives saluted and stepped back.</p><p>“General Abbasa, in the best possible way, I hope I do not see you back here too soon. Your men are lucky to have you, and you are fortunate to have them.”</p><p>“Thank you, Master. I knew the second part already.”</p><p>“AZI-3, I doubt Nala Se will be so easily deflected from causing you harm a second time. You may, if you wish, leave here with your new friends. Or if you choose to stay, I will do what I can to protect you.” The droid looked startled to be given any choice at all, then thoughtful.</p><p>“I would like to stay. I do not enjoy being shot at, and that seems to be most of a soldier’s life. Besides, unless you can get me access to the Grand Medical Laboratory on Coruscant, where will I analyse these?” He held up the chips he’d taken from Spark and Torrent. One of them didn’t look right.</p><p>“Is that one missing a piece?”</p><p>“I tried to tell you, Hel-li. The chip in Tor-rent broke as I was removing it, and I was only able to retrieve the larger fragment. I can extract the other, but it will take time, and there will be significant risk to the patient.”</p><p>Helli looked at Torrent. “Do you want to try? It’s still your decision.”</p><p>Torrent considered for a while. “I’ll leave it where it is and take my chances. We need to get going. And it might not work properly without the rest. Even if it does – I trust you, all of you, to stop me.”</p><p>“Good points. And you’ve risked your life enough times for one day. Now, let’s go, before anyone else asks who poked holes in their building.”</p><p>They took their leave of Master Ti and returned to the transport, where Master Fisto was waiting. Helli and Torrent navigated the conjoined craft out of the atmosphere without (they hoped) drawing too much attention, and jumped to hyperspace as smoothly as possible under the circumstances.</p><p>“Good to have you back, Fives,” Helli said as the autopilot kicked in.</p><p>“Good to <em>be</em> back. Thank you for coming back for me.”</p><p>“Oh, no problem. It’s Master Fisto you should really be thanking. He set up the whole mission on the basis of one dream.”</p><p>“You know as well as I do, young Jedi, that dreams aren’t always dreams. And I could not have turned down a request from a friend.”</p><p>“Nor could I, Master. And I’m very grateful. A friend in need really is a friend indeed.”</p>
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